My Morning Cup - A beautiful day!

My Morning Cup - A beautiful day!
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

Mwaaaaaah!

When we decided to move I was soooooo excited because there was enough space that I could have a sewing room all for myself! My last creative space was great but I shared some of it with my son's toys - believe me when I tell you that Lincoln Logs hurt just as much as Legos when you step on them!

Now that his new bedroom is big enough for all of his stuff, my new room is all for me, me, me, me, me! I found my new desk on Craigslist and it's a lot bigger than my old one, and finally I'm putting my Eames shell chair to good use, I swear it's the most comfortable desk chair ever! My desk looks out onto a large wraparound deck and the beautiful trees and hills beyond.

Most of the furniture from my old space has fit perfectly into the new one. We loved our last house but I find it funny that I never actually put any pictures on the wall. I must have "known" that we would probably not be there for long. But look, one of the first things that I did here was put up some little paintings by a local artist.

This hutch barely squeezed into my new room! There were literally just inches to spare in getting it around the corner! This is one of my favourite pieces of furniture and I would have been heartbroken if it hadn't fit. But it did, and doesn;t it look great?! :)

One of my other hutches is now being used in our kitchen so this one is now filled to overflowing! It's straining at the seams but I can probably find room to fit a few new tchotckies.
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M.I.A

Life has had me Missing In Action in blog land recently. With my 9-year old starting at a new school and an unexpected move to a new house, my blog has definitely been silent lately. Let's recap, starting with some recent craftiness:

This is the amazing Doll Quilt Swap 9 quilt that I received! Isn't it amazing?! It now has pride of place in my new sewing room. I absolutely adore the birds, it's just perfect :)

Next, we have the DQS9 quilt and goodies (camera strapcover & scrappy mug rug) that I made. They went all the way to the East Coast and I am pleased to report that my partner loved her package of goodies. Yay!

This is definitely one of the BEST swap packages that I have ever received. This was for the Urban Home Goods Swap on Flickr and when she posted pics of it (before I knew it was for me) I loved it and knew that it had to be for me! When I opened up the box I was so excited. It had been a rough week for me and this package eally put a smile on my face and brightened my day. The pillow is amazing and made with some of my fave Heather Bailey. I absolutely adore the embroidered gnome and pieced fabric wall hanging, it is also now adorning my sewing room wall. It's so funny that she made one of those little baskets for me because I had just made two for myself before I received hers. Can you tell that i love it?!

These little lovelies were my submission for the UHG Swap. This was a big deal for me as it was my first time making a pillow cover, making a dresden plate, making hexies, using the aqua/red combo and trying my hand at applique! I have to say that I was very pleased with the results and my partner was too!

Please welcome Henrietta! This gorgeous pincushion was what I recieved in the Pincushion Pass Swap on Flickr. I absolutely adore her and cannot bear the thought of piercing her with pins (although that's what she's for!) so for now she decorates my sewing table.

And last but certainly not least is a peek of the pincushion that I made for the swap. It is made of wool felt and hand sewn/embroidered. I did not use a pattern, just made it on the fly and I love how it came together. I don't have much experience with embroidery stitches and techniques so it was a really fun project.

my first knitting

my first knitting
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

Finally I have learned how to knit!

Abundant..............

......is the word I would use to describethe blackberries in our yard. At the end of last year when it was time to prepare the garden for Winter my husband very carefully cut back the blackberry bush in our yard. It looks like the work that he did paid off because we have an excess of berries right now! Every day we pick the ripe berries that we can reach and the next day we seem to pick even more.

I've been saving up all of the extras (and there is a LOT) to try my hand at canning this year. Canning has always been something that I have wanted to try, but did not have anyone to learn from. Yes, I know that I can just get a book but I would much rather learn first hand from someone who knows what they're doing. Lucky for me I recently discovered West Marin Free Skool. A kind local volunteer is graciously holding a class on canning both savory and sweet foods! I'm crossing my fingers that my blackberries will be put to good use!

While picking blackberries I discovered a little rosebush that was being swamped by some Jasmine. Another chore to put on my list............................

Summer Harvest

Look at we harvested from the garden today!

I would have posted pics of the beautiful blackberries that we picked from our yard, but we ate them!

I have been working on my Jacobs Ladder quilt top and will post pics tomorrow.

Sewing Machine Cover

Sewing Machine Cover
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

I have been trying out making all sorts of different handmade items recently. One of my favourites is this sewing machine cover that I just finished. The fabrics are fun and I really like the different machine quilting patterns that I used.

Another great way to brighten up my creative space!

As a favor........

....to a friend I have put up these pics of a house that she is considering in Inverness, CA

Back deck, w. garden and stairway entrance on right

Front Deck

Garden area from outside 1st bedroom

Garden area off of back deck

Steps from street up towards the house.

Kitchen and dining area. To the right is the living area.

Picture of kitchen taken from outside front deck window.

1st bedroom, picture taken from side window.

Living room from deck window, looking down hallway towards 1st bedroom.

Yummy!

Happy Monday to you. Look at what I came home with today!

In an effort to save $$ I have avoided shopping at Joann's for quite a while now. Typically I don't have much luck there but today I hit the motherlode! The Alexander Henry mushroom fabric was a real find and at only $5.59/yd I may have to go back for more. The apple and pear fabric also caught my eye so a yard of that came home too. Of course, I could not pass up a yard or Kona white and chocolate for just $4/yd.

I received my Fat Quarter Fabric Swap from my Flickr partner who lives in Canada! I love the Amy Butler FQ's and notecards, thanks so much!

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Inspiration

inspiring me on this beautiful first friday of summer vacation......

...I have committed to not buying any store made summer drinks this year so I have become and expert at making Sweet/Sun Tea.

...my "super" courgette is coming along nicely :)

...finally my cauliflower is showing signs of life!

...more peas to come

...my hanging basket growing just how I like it!

in gratitude, happy weekend!

my crafty area

my crafty area
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

My very own little corner of the world has not looked this neat in a long time! My Eames shell chair is one of my favourite thrifted pieces.

Pincushion Pass Inspiration

Pincushion Pass Inspiration
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

Just a handful of the amazing pincushions on Flickr that i love!

I have always wanted..................

............a vegetable garden and when we moved, we were finally in a house where we could have one! Considering that we have three dogs I was thrilled to find that our garden area is fully fenced off. It wasn't much to start with, just hard packed dirt and some weeds. With some TLC, soil amendments and fertilizer, by the beginning of May it was ready to go.

My veggie garden May 2, 2010

My veggie garden May 22, 2010

My veggie garden June 12, 2010

When I first planted the garden it looked so little and forlorn, would it ever grow?! I'm not known for my patience and would look out at it every morning looking for any small sign of growth. While watering, I'd inspect every little leaf, pull invading weeds and talk encouragingly at them begging them to stay live and grow, grow, grow!! It looks like all of my begging paid off!

We have just started to harvest peas and courgettes. Our little local newspaper has a competition every year for biggest courgette (aka zucchini), our biggest is about 12inches so far so we have high hopes. The tomatoes are ripening on the vine, little cobs of corn have emerged and the cauliflower has just started to take off. I am so excited by new garden that I may just have to give weekly updates :)

DQS9 Inspiration - craftingmomof1

DQS9 Inspiration - craftingmomof1
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

Yay! I signed up for Doll Quilt Swap 9 and was notified yesterday that I'M IN! I guess there are so many people that sign up that they have to pick participants by lottery, Yippee, I guess that I was one of the lucky ones. I also participated in DQS8 and it was a lot of fun

My quilting skills have definitely inproved so I am excited to be assigned a partner and see what I can do!

Our town.....

Freedom Block Swap - its3oclockinthemorning
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

....is quite sleepy during the week, but the weekends (especially the Holiday ones) here a VERY busy. We have spent the entire long weekend at home, which has been wonderful, and I've managed to log a few hours at my sewing table.

Here are some of the fruits of my labour! I made these squares for a partner in the Freedom Block Bee. We are required to make one block but heck, I made three!

Also DQS9 sign ups are now open so if you haven't signed up already, hop to it because I know that it fills up fast!

In Gratitude for all that our Veterans and their families have given us,

Quilt Squares Galore

Quilt Squares Galore
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

A Fun Family Friday.........

is what we had last week. I kept Max home from school (with the blessing of his teacher) to explore the beautiful area that we are so fortunate to live in. Pt. Reyes National Seashore is right in our backyard and at this time of year it is a zoo on the weekends. We used Friday to our advantage and before the crowds came rolling in we visited the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse. It was an incredible day and we were not disappointed. After driving through the beautiful rolling green hills and passing the happiest cows you could possibly imagine we parked and walked the half mile to the lighthouse.

After a windy walk we came to the top of the stairs down to the lighthouse. They say that the walk down is the equivalent to walking the stairs on a 30 storey building. Down was no problem, but walking back up was another story!!!

Up close the lighthouse wasn't all that thrilling but the view out to the Pacific was amazing.

These are my guys and in the distance you can see North Beach which runs along the outer edge of Pt. Reyes Seashore.




After the lighthouse - a quick trip to Drakes Beach. Unfortunately it was much to Windy for us to stay for long.

Wow, I feel so grateful to live in such a beautiful and inspiring environment. Moving here was a fluke but we know that this is the town that we are meant to be in. With all of the craziness in the world at least we know that our roots are in fertile soil.

In Gratitude,

It's been raining.......

Willa
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

.... a LOT in N. California and yesterday was no exception. Our school district will soon host a big fundraiser and this doll (Willa) will be in the silent auction - if I can bear to part with her! :) I haven't been into any Waldorf Crafts recently (probably because I have been quite torn about our school) and crafting Willa was a great experience for me. Lately I have been thinking a lot with my head but while creating her I really used my heart and the process helped me to think more about what are issues are with my son's school and what I/we can do to be proactive.

Needless to say, this was a great process for me and now I am making another!

ALFALC March 2010

ALFALC March 2010
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

FQSTwist March 2010

FQSTwist March 2010
Originally uploaded by craftingmomof1

Oops......

.... I know that I have been a.w.o.l. all this past week and will continue to be silent through this one as I am off to Galveston, TX to wrap up some family business with my Grandma. I am sad to be away from my son and husband for a week (I've never been away from our son for more than one night), but look forward to spending time with my Granny!

Have a great week.

Just one more day........

.....until Liberty of London for Target is available in stores!!! I have loved Liberty prints for eons - we lived in England when I was a youngster and I can remember loving the Liberty Store in London. When I saw the blog rumors that they were coming out with a line here in the US, I did a little dance. I already have a list of must-haves: headbands, sheeting (that I will probably cut up for projects), shirts, dresses, kitchenware and maybe even the cruiser bike! I think that my mom and I will make an online shopping attempt at 9pm PST and possibly brave a Target store or two tomorrow. For now, here is a sneaky peek of what's to come.................